This week, Bancolombia turned 150 years of history in the country, after a January 29, 1875, the Bank of Colombia was already the name of Colombia extended its operations to Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador and the United States; through a wide range of financial and non -financial services, as well as physical and digital channels.
Portafolio spoke with the CEO of the Bancolombia group, Juan Carlos Mora, who shared his emotion to reach a milestone of this magnitude in the financial system, took a balance of what this path has been and the projections they have for the years that follow .
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What does it mean to reach a century and a half of history?
It is much more than a number: it is the reflection of 150 years of shared dreams, open doors and mutual trust to fulfill our purpose of promoting sustainable development to achieve everyone’s well -being.
Throughout this time we have been the ally of more than 30 million customers, from entrepreneurs who start their way to the big companies that transform economies, generate employment and are engines of progress.
How much are you discounted for an international transfer?
Edgar Domínguez – Portafolio
A teamwork?
This anniversary is an opportunity to remember what we have achieved together: we have witnessed the growth of millions of people and companies, how innovation and closeness have allowed us to overcome challenges, and how to accompany the objectives of our clients has been the form to open new paths and possibilities.
More than commemorating a date, we celebrate the connection with people, the constructed relationships and the collective force that has driven us year after year. That is why today, looking at our history, we reaffirm our commitment to continue accompanying our clients on their way to The future.
We are inspired to know that, with each success story, we are building new realities and a world of opportunities. With the same passion and determination, we are ready to be there for another 15 decades.
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What has been the secret to adapt for so long?
The secret has been our ability to listen, evolve and always maintain a deep commitment to our clients. There are many milestones achieved in these 15 decades. We made history by opening our first physical branch in 1875 in Medellín.
We were the first to install an electronic cashier in Colombia in 1975, and today there are more than 5,200 throughout the national territory. We cannot ignore that we have a channel that reached the depths of our country, the bank correspondents, which today are more 28,200 in about 1,100 Colombian municipalities.
What other great achievements do you remember?
We also gave our clients the first credit cards of the National Financial System in 1969, and we were pioneers once again when opening a virtual branch in 1996. Every step we take, every goal we reach, are reasons for celebration. This realizes the more than 30 million customers in Colombia, Panama, El Salvador and Guatemala.
We have the responsibility of not forgetting the history of BIC, Conavi or Corfinsura, while looking at the future: a Cibst group that makes us very excited. A future that we are already drawing from the business hand such as Nequi, the first Neobanco in the country, born in 2016, and as Wenia, the cryptoactive negotiation platform with which we made a jump more in the digital economy.
Juan Carlos Mora, president of Bancolombia
Courtesy
Change constantly?
That constant flexibility and innovation, and a long -term vision, has allowed us to accompany the growth of the economy and its needs, always thinking about the environment and society.
Thanks to this, today Bancolombia has more than 30 million customers, assets greater than $ 353 billion, a portfolio balance of $ 270 billion and processes about 70% of the transactions made in the Colombian financial system. All this has been possible because of the relationships of trust that we have built with our clients, partners and employees.
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How did it go in 2024?
2024 was a year that had many challenges. An economic growth that was low and inflation that has been going down and high interest rates. In that context, in Bancolombia we feel satisfied with the result. The portfolio grew by about 5%, which is satisfactory in that challenging environment.
The definitive results still do not have them in terms of how much is the result in profits, but with what we were going to the third quarter, we believe that we will have a satisfactory result. With all this, I believe that we contribute to the country contributing to the issue of credit generation and obtained positive results.
Expectations for 2025?
2025 will be a year that will have better conditions. Inflation has been yielding and we believe it will continue to yield. The year should end around 4% and it is a year in which interest rates will go down, therefore there can be better growth, but you have to go prudence.
I believe that it will be a better year, which must reverse some of the trends, that there will be a portfolio growth, which will accompany a better performance, but we have to go prudence and slowly because if the credit accelerates more From the account, then there may be a very large wallet because people or companies cannot pay.
How to activate the keys in Bancolombia?
Bancolombia at hand.
Ready for Open Banking?
We have been preparing for some time, for years, we believe that we are very well prepared. In fact we launched my Bancolombia, which is the new Bancolombia app already prepared for BRE-B and that will allow interoperability.
In the Open Banking we have been working for some time, so we feel very prepared, I think it will generate very good development and growth opportunities for us.
